5 Smooth Closing Time Pickup Lines

Try out these chat-up lines custom-made for last call.

If you’re out at the bar and not looking to go home alone, there’s a deadline for your night: last call. Once last call hits, you’re going to be looking for a way to close an earlier deal or start up an entirely new ball game. For the guy looking to make that kind of last-minute connection, you’ll need to have some chat-up lines custom-made for last call. Here are five ways you can start the conversation on the right foot. The rest is up to you.

“What are you drinking? I’m buying two.”
It’s a good take on the classic “Can I buy you a drink?” except you’re not asking a question—you’re making a statement, and a bold one at that. Have whatever she’s having, even if it’s an appletini, pivoting the conversation to something light-hearted and fun, like the fact that you’re a guy drinking an appletini.

“Where’s the after-party?”
Don’t ask if she’s going to one. Ask where it is. This can go one of two ways: She knows where there’s an after party, in which case you now have plans for the rest of the night. Alternately, she might not know where an after party is, which gives you the opportunity to flirt and banter with her over the fact that she doesn’t, or tease out that maybe, just maybe you know where there is one. The actual content here doesn’t matter. What does matter is how you play it after you get her answer. Keep that smile on your face and make her smile too and you’ll be off to a running start.

When in doubt, you can always try, ‘How YOU doin?’ Hey, it worked for Joey.

“How can a guy get into trouble in this town?”
Playing the helpless tourist card works like gangbusters, even when—make that especially when—you’re just kind of joking around. This is a chat up line that can always work, but has a special kind of poignant resonance around closing time. You’re letting her know that you’re not done with your night, that you want to move on and do something else fun and (a point you should arrive at in pretty short order) that you’d like to do whatever it is with her.

The actual content here doesn’t matter. What does matter is how you play it after you get her answer.

“Can you head over to the liquor store and buy for me? I’m not 21.”
Of course you are. That’s what makes it so funny. And why it works is because it sounds like exactly the opposite of a pickup line. Still, you’ve grabbed her interest: Who is this guy who’s obviously old enough to drink because he’s in a bar? Why is he asking me to go to the liquor store for him? Even if she immediately realizes that you’re putting her on a bit, it’s a great way to open the conversation. She’ll be intrigued and maybe even play around with your joke a little bit.

“I’m too drunk to drive, can I get a ride?”
Fortune favors the bold. And while you might not be able to immediately get her to agree to a ride home, you might be able to get her attention for a quick drink or even find the right after-party.

The key to most of these is using their implicit humor and light-heartedness. The more you can sell that, the better your chances are going to be of going home with a plus one in tow.